When I first came across Oliver Anthony and his music, I was blown away to say the least. He had a whole collection of songs that I could listen to for hour...

It’s everywhere nowadays, and I think it needs to be discussed here as well, especially on a communist community as we are. heart-sickle

While I agree with the sentiment expressed in the song, some lines about fat people on welfare are absolutely baffling. As if they are the problem. What the hell?

But overall, this song speaks to me. I feel communist and workers really do understand the frustration of this song, and can build bridges.

    • mah [none/use name]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Interesting video, i’m playing it on the background now. I don’t think the song is astroturfed tho, or at least, not in the beginning - I just feel it is relatable. But I might be very very wrong.

      would rather blame people suffering than build solidarity.

      i fully agree on this point. my feeling exactly: i feel this song is so close in understanding the frustration, but so far in seeing the solutions. And a battle of the have-nots is not the solution and never will be.

  • TillieNeuen [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
    15·
    1 year ago

    OK, I’ll bite. It’s got a “wish I could go back to the good old days” message that is immediately suspect because they good old days were only good for certain people. Blaming poor fat people for other people being hungry is just more of the obvious divide-and-conquer that has lead to the absolute destruction of the welfare state, and reminds me that “welfare queens” are black-coded even though loads of white people are on assistance, but they think they deserve it, unlike "those other kinds of people. Then there’s complaining about taxes. This whiffs of libertarianism to me, given the overall tenor of the song. In conclusion, in my opinion this song sucks and its analysis sucks. It blames all the wrong people for the very real problems of today.

  • InevitableSwing [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    13·
    1 year ago

    But overall, this song speaks to me.

    It doesn’t speak to me. At all. Smells like astroturf to me.

    Rich Men North of Richmond

    Themes of the song include low wages (“for bullshit pay”), food poverty (“nothing to eat”), high inflation (“dollar ain’t shit”), high taxes (“taxed to no end”), child trafficking (“minors on an island”), welfare abuse (“the obese milkin’ welfare”), and centralization of power (“wanna have total control”).

    A reference to politicians “looking out for minors on an island somewhere” has been interpreted as a reference to Jeffrey Epstein and his private island, and has led to speculation that Anthony was referencing the QAnon conspiracy theory, which revolves around the belief that politicians and other elites engage in child sex trafficking and other child abuse.

    -–

    I don’t think the song is astroturfed tho

    ~12 hours ago I decided not to make the following a post because “somebody on Twitter says…” isn’t worthy of a post. But Anthony smells very rotten to me. If he’s not proven to be a astroturf creation in the next few weeks or months - I will be very surprised.

    “Never seen a guy blow up this fast”: Oliver Anthony industry plant astroturf claim goes viral amid Rich Men North of Richmond’s success

    [@Lucky] pointed out that [the song’s instant popularity] was the doing of a right-wing entrepreneur named Jason Howerton, who is the CEO of Reach Digital, a firm that allegedly helps “media companies and political influencers grow their social media footprint exponentially.”

    Further, @Lucky shared how Jason was one of the first people on X to promote Rich Men North of Richmond and even indicated that he funded the recording of the song. He also alleged that Howerton was one of the key players in the industry plant or astroturfing campaign.

  • CyborgMarx [any, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    8·
    1 year ago

    I really don’t get why there’s so much freakout over some rando poltically illiterate libertarian making a poltically illiterate song

    Discount Ron Paul ass 2012 ass vibes